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Feature October 3, 2018
Banished
After passing a series of restrictive housing laws, Miami-Dade County faces an odd predicament: bands of nomadic sex offenders and a cat-and-mouse game to move them.
By and
News March 29, 2016
DOJ Tells Prisons to Put Safety First in Housing Transgender Inmates
Rules from 2012 are too often ignored, advocates say.
By
Prisoners attending a class at the mental health transition center at the Cook County Jail, in Chicago, in 2015.
News October 27, 2020
What Could Have Kept Me Out of Prison
We asked people behind bars what services and programs could have changed the course of their lives. Therapy, affordable housing and a living wage topped the list.
By , Aviva Shen and
President Donald Trump, a White man wearing a dark suit, gestures with his hands out while sitting at a desk with a presidential seal on it. On the left, a man holds a stack of executive orders. In front of the president, photographers take pictures of him.
Analysis January 23
Trump’s Order Takes Aim at Transgender People in Prison
Few trans people receive gender-affirming housing and care in the federal prison system. This executive order would make it even harder.
By
A police officer and a correctional officer patrol the entrance of the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma.
News June 5, 2019
White House Pushing to Help Prisoners Before Their Release
Officials are trying to line up jobs and housing for 2,200 inmates who are scheduled to be freed in July under the First Step Act.
By
Eight cropped book covers with shadows behind them appear in a grid against a cream-colored background: “The Egyptian Book of the Dead,” “The Hellbound Heart,” “Captive Nation,” “Black on Black Violence,” “Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic” and “Effective Java.” The center of the grid shows a pointer cursor hovering above an image of a tool displaying which books are banned in Ohio prisons.
Investigate This October 3, 2023
How to Report on Banned Books in Prisons in Your State
Prisons are among the most restrictive reading environments in the United States.
By The Marshall Project
Protesters demonstrated in support of immigrants who are in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, in Washington, D.C., in 2017.
News January 14, 2019
Trump's War on Immigrants Leaves a Million Lives in Limbo
Migrants in the U.S. and across the globe face turmoil as lawsuits aim to reverse restrictive policies.
By
A Black man wearing a red T-shirt that reads “No kids in Angola” shouts during a protest at the Louisiana state Capitol against the state’s decision to house some youth at the adult prison Angola.
Inside Story February 2, 2023
When Kids Are Punished Like Adults
Louisianans protest temporary youth housing in notorious Angola, and Bryan Stevenson speaks on sentencing reform.
By and
At the ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado, the Department of Justice’s inspector general found mentally ill inmates held in solitary confinement despite a 2014 change in policy meant to improve their care.
News July 12, 2017
Federal Watchdog Finds Mentally Ill Are Stuck in Solitary
A new report contradicts a claim from the Bureau of Prisons.
By
Darrell, who was convicted of sexual assault of his stepdaughter, lived in a tent in Miami-Dade County.
News and Awards June 19, 2019
The Marshall Project Wins an Edward R. Murrow Award
Honored with the national prize for “Excellence in Video.”
By The Marshall Project
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the “Isolated Confinement Restriction Act” on December 5.
Commentary December 14, 2016
What Chris Christie Got Wrong About Solitary Confinement
Scope, purpose, duration — in short, everything
By Daniel Teehan
Analysis January 27, 2016
There Are Practically No Juveniles in Federal Prison — Here’s Why
Obama takes bold action, but for a population of fewer than 30
By
News and Awards August 17, 2023
The Marshall Project Wins National Murrow Award for Investigation of Cleveland Court System
The Marshall Project won the Excellence in Innovation Award for its “Testify” series, produced with WOVU radio and Cleveland Documenters.
By The Marshall Project
Colette Peters, a White woman in a red suit jacket and short brown hair, speaks, as Michael Horowitz, a White man in a navy suit jacket and white hair, looks on.
Closing Argument March 2, 2024
How Federal Prisons Are Getting Worse
Government watchdog agencies found hundreds of preventable deaths and excessive use of solitary confinement.
By and
Life Inside March 30, 2017
‘I Can Help This Person’
A prison psychologist mourns a patient he tried to save.
By Ryan Quirk as told to
President Donald Trump announces his support of the “First Step Act” at the White House in November.
News November 16, 2018
What’s Really in the First Step Act?
Too much? Too little? You be the judge.
By
An illustration shows a silhouette of an individual standing in the middle of their prison cell, with a fan, a cabinet and a chair on the left side and a bed on the right side. Orange waves permeate through the room to indicate heat.
Life Inside July 15, 2022
My Prison Gets So Hot, the Floors Sweat
Survival tips include, “Wait it out” and “Buy another fan, bro.”
By
Commentary January 15, 2016
Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall and the Way to Justice
Two towering lives in a prequel to Black Lives Matter.
By Wil Haygood
A White woman in a gray suit delivers a speech at a podium with the federal Bureau of Prisons logo on it. In the background, an American flag can be seen on the left and the U.S. Department of Justice flag on the right.
News August 4, 2022
She Tried to ‘Humanize’ Prisons in Oregon. Can She Fix the Federal System?
Inspired by European models, the new Bureau of Prisons director built a Japanese garden in one penitentiary and made official language less demeaning. But some are skeptical of lasting reform.
By
The solitary cell at Menard Correctional Facility in Illinois where Bernard Simmons was found dead.
Justice Talk March 31, 2016
Highlights From Our Justice Talk On Solitary Confinement
From comparisons to “Orange Is the New Black” to accounts from people who spent time in solitary, this is what you missed in our chat with Digg.
By
Life Inside July 13, 2017
My Friend Killed Himself in an Alabama Prison
A rash of suicides in solitary confinement hits an inmate close to home.
By Anonymous as told to
A woman, wearing a KN95 mask, black cardigan, blue blouse, and black pants, walks in front of a sign that reads "Los Angeles Superior Court Clara Shortridge Foltz Courthouse."
Closing Argument September 30, 2023
Should Money Decide Who is Kept in Jail? More Locations Are Saying No.
Los Angeles and Illinois are the latest jurisdictions to change their cash bail system.
By
An orange illustration shows a bird’s-eye view of a person in a prison uniform sitting on the edge of a bed, leaning their head on their hands, covered in beads of sweat. The wall is wavy as if from heat and there are cockroaches on the floor.
St. Louis May 14
These Missouri Prisons Get ‘Brutally Hot.’ In Solitary, It’s Even Worse.
A recent class action lawsuit from the MacArthur Justice Center sheds light on how extreme heat creates life-threatening conditions for those in solitary confinement.
By
An illustration mostly in muted green, brown and blue shades shows Grace Pinson, a trans Latina with long dark hair wearing a white T-shirt, standing in a courtroom while wearing handcuffs linked to a chain at her waist. An American flag is on the left of the illustration, and three people in suits look at Grace with their backs to the viewer.
Feature October 9, 2024
Assaulted by Her Cellmate, a Trans Woman Took the Federal Prisons to Court
When you are harmed in a place whose purpose is punishment, why is it so hard to get justice?
By
Feature June 11, 2015
From Solitary to the Street
What happens when prisoners go from complete isolation to complete freedom in a day?
By
Life Inside April 8, 2020
I Was at Rikers While Coronavirus Spread. Getting Out Was Just as Surreal.
“My family is my family. I am used to our little quirks. But I am still getting used to what's going on outside.”
By Donald Kagan as told to
Drew Harrison, who has autism, struggled with sensory overload when he was in prison in Virginia.
Feature November 2, 2020
Prison Is Even Worse When You Have a Disability Like Autism
State officials often fail to identify prisoners with developmental disorders, a group that faces overwhelming challenges behind bars, from bright lights to noises to social dynamics.
By
Life Inside February 18, 2022
Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
Goods are scarce in any correctional facility, but the circumstances are especially dire for those in isolation. Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get what they need.
By Matthew Azzano
A Black man, wearing a KN95 mask, black long-sleeved undershirt and teal T-shirt, kneels down in front of a bearded man sitting in a wheelchair. The man in the wheelchair is wearing a black beanie, a seafoam green sweater and jeans. A gray backpack hangs from the back of the wheelchair.
Closing Argument March 23, 2024
They’re Not Cops. They Don’t Have Guns. But They’re Responding to More 911 Calls.
A new generation of first responders is handling mental health calls and other emergencies in cities across the U.S.
By
The Florence Federal Prison Complex in Florence, Colo.
Case in Point December 5, 2016
How America’s Most Famous Federal Prison Faced a Dirty Secret
The case that awakened us to the mental health trauma of “Supermax”
By
Photos from some of The Marshall Project’s best stories of the year.
Commentary December 27, 2018
Some of Our Best Work in 2018
Finish the year strong with journalism that makes a difference.
By
Feature November 8, 2020
When Going to the Hospital Is Just as Bad as Jail
A new lawsuit claims Black Americans with mental illness are being forced into traumatic emergency room stays.
By
An illustration shows a Black woman in a cream-colored prison uniform looking at a silhouette of a guard.
Life Inside March 10
At My Texas Prison, Solitary Confinement All But Guarantees Sexual Exploitation by Guards
Prison journalist Kwaneta Harris on “the hole” at Lane Murray Unit: “It is not uncommon for guards to withhold food unless we take our shirts off.”
By Kwaneta Harris, with Deborah Zalesne
An illustration shows two people with a medium-dark skin tone pulling a model of a detention facility from opposite ends. Only their hands and arms are visible. One person is wearing a brown sheriff’s uniform while the other is wearing a beige suit.
Jackson March 26
A Court May Soon Control the Hinds County Jail. Here’s What May Happen Next.
When death and violence plagued the jail, the federal courts stepped in. We talked with an expert about what to expect from a receivership.
By
Feature March 24, 2016
The Deadly Consequences of Solitary With a Cellmate
Imagine living in a cell that’s smaller than a parking space — with a homicidal roommate.
By and Joe Shapiro
Feature October 26, 2016
28 Days in Chains
In this federal prison, inmates have a choice: live with a violent cellmate or end up in shackles.
By and Joseph Shapiro
District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s office was responsible for almost 38 percent of New York city’s jail population in 2016.
Feature April 29, 2018
The People vs. Cy Vance
Think the Manhattan DA goes easy on the rich? Take a look at how he prosecutes the poor.
By
A photo collage shows Bobby Everson in a tan prison outfit in front of abstract paintings, an image of the U.S. penitentiary in Thomson, Illinois, and a handwritten letter.
Feature May 31, 2022
How the Newest Federal Prison Became One of the Deadliest
Fatal beatings. A “torture room.” Pairs of men held around the clock in tiny cells, tempers rising. “They’re literally afraid for their lives,” one lawyer said.
By , The Marshall Project and Joseph Shapiro, NPR
Federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., one of two federal facilities with Communication Management Units.
News January 28, 2015
Another Kind of Isolation
The Bureau of Prisons tightens the rules at its secretive “Communication Management Units.”
By
Steven Odiase, center, was convicted of killing a teenage boy in the Bronx in 2009. He was exonerated this year after defense attorneys discovered prosecutors had withheld key witness statements that could have helped prove Odiase’s innocence.
News November 8, 2017
New York Courts Say: Hand It Over
A new order reminds prosecutors to show their evidence.
By
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn, has been sponsoring discovery bills for years.
News April 1, 2019
“Blindfold” Off: New York Overhauls Pretrial Evidence Rules
Prosecutors will be required to turn over information to the defense much earlier in a criminal case, among other changes.
By
The first Texas prisoner to die after testing positive for the coronavirus was incarcerated at the Telford Unit near Texarkana.
Coronavirus April 15, 2020
What Happens When More Than 300,000 Prisoners Are Locked Down?
The United States is about to find out as officials struggle to contain the coronavirus.
By
Election 2024 October 21, 2024
Fact-checking Over 12,000 of Donald Trump’s Quotes About Immigrants
“I could get elected twice over the wall,” said Trump. It is one of the few true things he’s said about immigration.
By The Marshall Project Staff
George Washington in the Bronx, New York, April 25, 2017.
News May 10, 2017
A Fresh Take on Ending the Jail-to-Street-to-Jail Cycle
For troubled repeat offenders, a chance at a supportive place to live.
By
Illustration of a white paper airplane flying in the sky with a faint city skyline with a blue and purple gradient in the background.
Cleveland Newsletter June 12
Cuyahoga Deputy Unfit for Suburb, Hired by Sheriff
A deputy was elevated to the Cuyahoga sheriff’s downtown safety patrol despite struggles with training.
By The Marshall Project - Cleveland
News July 13, 2020
How Long Can You Hide a Dead Body in a Prison Cell?
Mental-health problems, short staffing plague a Texas lockup in COVID lockdown.
By
A White woman, wearing a white tank top and a label that reads "Forced motherhood is female enslavement," yells while holding a sign that reads, "Stop the war on bodily autonomy." People are protesting in the background.
Closing Argument June 1, 2024
How Abortion’s Legal Landscape Post-Roe is Causing Fear and Confusion
We spoke with seven reproductive rights organizations — here’s what we found.
By and
An illustration shows the figure of a person standing in front of the facade of a court building with columns. There are clouds behind the building facade and the color scheme of the illustration is blue, red, and black.
Testify October 26, 2022
Who’s Really Cycling In and Out of Cleveland’s Courts?
Often miscast as violent criminals, most repeat defendants commit nonviolent crimes borne out of untreated addiction and mental illness, a Marshall Project analysis shows.
By and
News March 11, 2015
Barred from Church
Sex-offender laws are raising questions about the right to worship.
By
News July 1, 2015
How the Law Will Adapt to Oregon’s Legalized Pot
Expunged arrest records, and new jobs for police dogs.
By , , and
News October 20, 2015
New York City Jail Guards Are Fighting to Keep Their Records Secret
Amid abuse charges, union acts to ‘protect our officers.’
By
The Rev. Ronald Apollo at the flag folding ceremony for his retirement ceremony from the U.S. Air Force in 2017.
News January 26, 2018
The Bureau of Prisons Yields to a Chaplain’s Conscience
The bureau relents in a stalemate over pepper spray.
By
Election 2020 March 11, 2020
How We Pulled Off A Groundbreaking Political Survey Behind Bars
More than 8,000 incarcerated people responded.
by , and
Testify January 27, 2022
How We Reported on Voting and Criminal Courts in Cuyahoga County
The Marshall Project spent months analyzing court records and voting patterns to understand who chooses county judges and who experiences the consequences.
By , and
Susan Chira portrait by Daniel Lozada.DanielLozada.net.@Daniel.Lozada on Instagram.Email: Hello@Daniellozada.net
News and Awards May 16, 2024
Susan Chira to Step Down as The Marshall Project’s Editor-in-Chief in January
Under her stewardship, the news nonprofit more than doubled in size, opened local newsrooms and won its second Pulitzer Prize.
By The Marshall Project
A dark-skinned woman, wearing a reflective safety vest, white T-shirt, blue jeans, yellow cap and gloves, takes items out of a tent located on a sidewalk. A camping chair, a backpack, a plastic bag and a water jug are in front of the tent. Two cars are parked next to the tent.
Closing Argument September 28, 2024
Unhoused People Have Property Rights Too
A recent Supreme Court decision spurred a crackdown on people experiencing homelessness. Here’s how some are still fighting back.
By
Since coronavirus began appearing in the San Francisco Bay area, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office has released hundreds of people from the Santa Rita Jail.
Coronavirus April 6, 2020
A New Tactic To Fight Coronavirus: Send The Homeless From Jails To Hotels
California and New York City are booking hotels so homeless people released from jail don’t accelerate the pandemic.
By
Life Inside June 9, 2015
Doing Whatever It Takes to Create a Prison Garden
“The staff didn't have a clue.”
By Michele Scott
Looking Back August 19, 2019
In Sickness, In Health—and In Prison
A Nebraska couple fighting to marry behind bars wouldn’t be the first: Three decades ago, two prisoners took their bid to marry all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
By
News May 27, 2015
Out of Prison, Out of Luck
When the test of innocence is withheld.
By
The Marcy Correctional Facility outside Utica, N.Y., in 2007.
News September 16, 2015
In New York, Padlocked Jumpsuits for Prison ‘EXPOSERS’
An effective way to curb behavior, or ‘an extreme form of restraint’?
By Jie Jenny Zou
News March 2, 2020
No Glitter, No Glue, No Meth?
Can Texas prisons really stop contraband by banning greeting cards?
By
The Frame January 26, 2015
Welcome to Miracle Village
Photographer Sofia Valiente captures the lives of a community of sex offenders.
Photographs by Sofia Valiente
Topeka Sam.
News and Awards October 9, 2018
Topeka K. Sam joins The Marshall Project’s Board of Directors
Sam is the first formerly incarcerated woman to join the board.
By The Marshall Project
A man wearing a red beanie and a black and red jumpsuit looks down as he stands in the middle of a homeless encampment.
Election 2024 October 25, 2024
The Next Front in the War Over Homelessness Is on the Arizona Ballot
Conservatives want to use the criminal justice system to force unhoused people into treatment. It may do more harm than good.
By , The Marshall Project and Pascal Sabino, Bolts
Prisoners at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Alabama. Abolitionists do not propose bulldozing prisons and jails tomorrow; rather they are focused on a practical program of change.
Commentary June 19, 2019
The Case for Abolition
“We have grown weary of worn-out debates over the feasibility of a world without prisons.”
By Ruth Wilson Gilmore and James Kilgore
The Marshall Project Inside January 13, 2022
Paying for Their Own Foster Care
Episode 3 of Inside Story examines the conflict between legality and morality when states take money intended for foster children.
By and
A black-and-white illustration of a man alone in a prison cell with his left leg up on his bed, as light streams in from the windows.
Life Inside October 25, 2024
Life Inside, Remixed: Inside the Underground Economy of Solitary Confinement
Here’s how people in “the box” use their ingenuity, collaboration skills and a form of “fishing” to get the goods they need.
By The Marshall Project
A sectioned off area inside the Cuyahoga County Justice Complex labeled “Sheriff’s Department Perimeter Patrol” has computers and chairs. A man in a long-sleeved button-down shirt and dark-colored pants walks towards the left, behind the sectioned off area.
Cleveland November 21, 2024
Cuyahoga County Jail Will Now Do More Than Show People the Door
Reentry changes come in response to The Marshall Project - Cleveland investigation that showed people leaving jail got little help to avoid returning.
By
News October 27, 2020
What 2,392 Incarcerated People Think About #DefundThePolice
Americans are grappling with intensifying calls to remake the criminal justice system. We asked people behind bars to weigh in.
By , and Aviva Shen
Looking Back November 20, 2014
The Awakening of Thurgood Marshall
The case he didn’t expect to lose. And why it mattered that he did.
By Gilbert King
Case in Point May 3, 2016
Exonerated, Dead and Still on Trial
In a notorious Louisiana case, a judge gets in a last kick.
By
A photo still of security footage from inside the Berks Family Residential Center in 2014.
News June 22, 2018
Inside Family Detention, Trump's Big Solution
The administration is no longer separating them. Now more parents and children will be held at places like this.
By and
Rodney Reed, sentenced to death for the murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop County, Texas, in 1996, has received support from celebrities and politicians for his claim that he was wrongfully convicted.
News November 13, 2019
How Do You Prove You’re Innocent If You’re On Death Row?
Rodney Reed faces execution in Texas despite mounting evidence of innocence and bipartisan support.
By
Life Inside December 12, 2019
I Did My 25 Years. Now I’m Fighting Another Sentence—Deportation
I barely remember my birthplace, Jamaica, and I have no family left there. Frankly, I’m terrified.
By Colin Absolam as told to
Evan Miller, right, was escorted to the Lawrence County Courthouse in Moulton, Ala., in 2006. In April 2021, he was resentenced to life without parole for the 2003 murder of Cole Cannon.
News April 30, 2021
Supreme Court Conservatives Just Made It Easier to Sentence Kids to Life in Prison
The new ruling could worsen existing racial disparities in states that condemn teens to die in prison.
By
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a White man in a navy suit and red tie, speaks into a microphone while standing at a podium with the seal of Florida. Flags of the United States and the state of Florida are in the background.
News December 10, 2024
New Florida Prison Policy on Trans Health Care ‘Like Conversion Therapy’
With new restrictions on gender-affirming care, prisons confiscate underwear from trans people and compel them to cut their hair.
By
A solitary confinement cell at New York City’s Riker’s Island jail.
Analysis November 30, 2016
Who’s in Solitary Confinement?
By , and
The Language Project April 12, 2021
I Was Trained to Call Prisoners a Word They Hated
As correctional officers, we are conditioned to call prisoners ‘inmates.’ But at Sing Sing, where I worked for 25 years, that was as bad as calling them a snitch.
By Kevin Byrd, as told to
An illustration shows a man shouting behind the window of a prison cell, while smoke and fire billows out of it. The window forms the eyepiece of a set of blinders being worn by a prison guard. Static is shown coming out of a walkie talkie worn by the prison guard.
Feature May 9, 2022
Burned to Death in a Prison Cell
After years of warnings about broken fire alarms, two men have now died in blazes at Texas prisons.
By
Justice Lab November 3, 2015
Why It’s Hard to Be a Poor Boy With Richer Neighbors
And why it can lead to criminal behavior.
By
People raise wooden crosses dedicated to lives lost in Chicago, IL in 2016.
Commentary March 13, 2017
Crime Hotspots Need Investments, Not Just Policing
Anti-crime strategies should try to fix what makes hotspots prone to violence.
Maurice Jones and Julia Ryan
Oakland police officers in Calistoga, California, in 2017.
News October 25, 2018
Police Recruiters Have a Few Questions
Have you ever run away from home? What’s your most unusual sex act?
By
In a black and white photograph, Grace Pinson, a trans Latina with short dark hair, stands outside in the sun with three men. The person to her left wears a tank top and has tattoos on his face, neck and arms. Behind her stand two men. The one on the right wears a white T-shirt and is bald. The one on the left has tattoos on his chest and arms and has close-cropped, dark hair.
News January 24
The Trans Woman Who Sued the Federal Prisons (and Won) Settles Her Remaining Cases
Days before Trump’s inauguration, the Bureau of Prisons agreed to pay Grace Pinson $95,000 to drop more than a dozen pending lawsuits.
By
Nacola McNeil in front of the Leading Into New Communities (LINC) transitional housing in Wilmington, NC, in January.
News January 19, 2021
Prisons Are Releasing People Without COVID-19 Tests Or Quarantines
People getting out of prison are bringing the virus outside because lockups aren’t taking basic precautions. Overtaxed halfway houses and other reentry programs are left to pick up the slack.
By AND
A photo illustration with a black and white photograph of the exterior of a prison in the background with red rectangles overlaying it. In the middle is a semi-circle with the typewritten text from several phrases, including “tortured for 18 hours with an..” and “I began to feel a sharp pain on the left side of my chest.” Below the text is a photo of an officer's hands on the wrist of a man in handcuffs.
Feature December 17, 2024
Dozens of Prisoners Allege a Culture of Violence by Guards at Federal Facility in Virginia
In lawsuits and interviews, people held at Lee penitentiary described correctional officers breaking teeth, fracturing ribs and using the N-word.
By
As part of the settlement of Nuñez v. City of New York, a 2011 class-action lawsuit filed by Rikers Island detainees, federal monitors periodically report on use of force across the jail complex. This image from the Eleventh Report shows at least 12 officers in a recreational area responding to two detainees who refused to be handcuffed.
Life Inside October 5, 2021
Dispatch From Deadly Rikers Island: “It Looks Like a Slave Ship in There.”
Rikers Island has been notorious for violence and neglect for decades. But detainees, corrections officers and officials tell us the New York City jail complex has plunged into a new state of emergency.
By
News June 17, 2015
‘A System That Is Clearly Broken’
A Minnesota sex-offender program is under fire. How long can the state hold people for crimes they have not yet committed?
By
Angel Campos Nava, right, was brought to the Franklin County Courthouse in Russellville, Ala. in April, 2013.
News September 22, 2016
How Mexico Saves Its Citizens from the Death Penalty in the U.S.
A fund is designated to train, pay and advise American defense lawyers.
By
Darla Juma, president of the North Dakota Victims Assistance Association, speaking against Marsy’s Law, which would offer protections to crime victims, in June.
Crime on the Ballot October 17, 2016
It’s Not Just Pot and the Death Penalty
Four important ballot measures you probably haven’t heard of.
By
Feature July 13, 2016
How to Fix American Policing
At a painful time, a roundup of proposed remedies
By
June 20, 2017 - New York, NY : Aaron Cedres poses for a portrait in Rainey Park, where he sometimes slept when he was homeless, in The Bronx on Tuesday afternoon, June 20. A felony assault charge related to a Sept. 2013 altercation outside the El Batey Lounge, where Cedres worked as a bouncer, upended the then-25-year-old’s life and left him homeless. The ordeal took a year and a half and 20 court appearances to clear up. In the end, the charges against Cedres were dismissed. CREDIT: Karsten Moran for The New York Times NYTCREDIT: Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Feature August 7, 2017
Undiscovered
Defendants say evidence laws force them to take pleas while “blindfolded.”
By
Victor Rosario was convicted in 1983 of starting a fire that killed eight people in Lowell, Massachusetts. In 2014 that conviction was overturned. He is awaiting a prosecutor’s decision about a retrial.
Case in Point August 8, 2017
The Weakest Link Standard
A Massachusetts case suggests a different way of judging evidence.
By
Four inmates died of COVID-19 at the federal prison in Butner, N.C., over three days in mid-April.
Coronavirus April 25, 2020
Few Federal Prisoners Released Under COVID-19 Emergency Policies
A federal judge called the Bureau of Prisons release process “Kafkaesque.”
By and
Michael Cohen, the former lawyer for President Donald Trump, arrived at home after being released from federal prison, in New York City on Thursday.
Coronavirus May 21, 2020
Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort Got to Leave Federal Prison Due to COVID-19. They’re The Exception.
Just a small fraction of federal prisoners have been sent home. Many others lack legal help and connections to make their case.
By and
Known to his listeners as “Megamind,” Ramy Hozaifeh is the voice — and the driving force — behind a new radio station run from inside one of the most notorious prisons in Texas.
Death Sentences December 20, 2021
The Prisoner-Run Radio Station That’s Reaching Men on Death Row
They can’t go to classes or prison jobs, and they don’t have tablets or televisions. But they do have radios.
By
News March 29, 2021
Texas Prisons Stopped In-Person Visits and Limited Mail. Drugs Got in Anyway.
Guards smuggle in most contraband, people who live in or work at prisons say.
By and Jolie Mccullough
A light-skinned Hispanic man with close-cropped hair and tattoos on his arms uses the phone at the Polunsky Unit prison facility.
Death Sentences June 27, 2024
This Doctor Helped Send Ramiro Gonzales to Death Row. Now He’s Changed His Mind.
Texas plans to execute Gonzales this week even though the expert witness says he isn’t a ‘threat to society.’
By and
A group of more than 30 protestors walk through Cleveland’s downtown, holding posters advocating for bail reform and better conditions at the county jail.
Testify September 11, 2023
Six Years of Bail Reform in Cuyahoga County: A Timeline
How public pressure, inhumane jail conditions, and informal agreements reshaped the Cuyahoga County bail system.
By and
An illustration shows a person wearing a black head cover and an orange, long-sleeved shirt. The person is reading a letter at a desk with stacks of envelopes on it. A collage of letters showing different styles of penmanship are in the background.
Feature December 16, 2024
What I Learned From a Year of Reading Letters From Prisoners
The Marshall Project receives nearly 3,000 letters a year from people behind bars. Each one tells a different story about the system’s harms.
By
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